Fugitive teenager arrested over $132k ticket scam
The alleged teenage ringleader of a gang that conned 10,000 fans with fake tickets to shows by Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee in Peru has been arrested in Spain.
Pamela Cabanillas, 19, is accused of leading a group of scammers known as “The QR Gang” that allegedly set up a cloned website of Peru-based ticket outlet, Teleticket, and sold tickets for up to US$390 between May and October last year. She is thought to have made at least US$132,000 through the scam.
According to the Daily Mail, her network sold 7,000 bogus tickets for Daddy Yankee’s two shows at Peru’s National Stadium in Lima from 18-19 October last year and a further 3,000 for Bad Bunny’s 13 November date at the same venue. Scores of customers were denied entry when their tickets were found to be duplicates.
“We have arrested her and transferred her to the police station to continue with all the necessary steps to carry out the extradition to Peru”
Cabanillas, was arrested by police last week and has been charged with five offences, including identity theft, aggravated fraud and falsification of private documents. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in jail.
Cabanillas evaded authorities for weeks before being tracked down in Carabanchel, Madrid.
“After a discreet follow-up by the Spanish police, we have been able to intercept her, we have identified her and we have verified that her identity was the one that appears in the international [arrest warrant],” Spain’s police inspector Vanessa Arriera tells Infobae. “We have arrested her and transferred her to the police station to continue with all the necessary steps to carry out the extradition to Peru.”
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Ticketmaster Mexico installs new director
Ticketmaster Mexico has announced the appointment of Ana María Arroyo as its new director, replacing the long-serving Lorenza Baz.
Arrayo, who comes from a digital background, will be tasked with accelerating the firm’s technological transformation, as well as clamping down on illegal ticket resale sites, reports Forbes Mexico.
“The change in the leadership of Ticketmaster opens a new stage of leadership, which reaffirms our determination to improve the experience of fans, event promoters, venues and commercial allies, as well as ensuring the quality of our service,” it says
Ticketmaster also pays tribute to Arrayo’s predecessor’s “achievements and contribution to the evolution of the ticket industry in Mexico” over 30 years with the company, praising Baz as a “benchmark of professionalism to follow”.
Baz’s departure comes a month after Ticketmaster Mexico was absolved of blame for the controversy at Bad Bunny’s concerts at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, which saw 2,000 fans denied entry.
More than 4.5 million people had registered for the 120,000 available tickets for the 10-11 December shows
Ticketmaster says more than 4.5 million people had registered for the 120,000 available tickets for the 10-11 December shows.
The firm cited “an unprecedented number of fake tickets” and problems with the ticket-reading system for the incident. Federal consumer protection office Profeco initially accused Ticketmaster of overselling tickets for the concerts, but has since walked back the claims.
According to Mexico News Daily, Profeco head Ricardo Sheffield now accepts the issues were caused by failure of the venue’s ticket-scanning devices due to patchy internet access. He added that video footage showed empty spaces where the fans locked out with tickets would have been seated.
The fallout was such that Mexico president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has called on the Puerto Rican rapper to give a free concert in the capital’s central Zócalo plaza.
Last year saw Bad Bunny usurp Ed Sheeran as the highest-grossing touring artist in a calendar year, generating $435,388,660 for 81 shows in 2022, according to Pollstar data, surpassing the $432.4 million box office takings of Sheeran’s 94 ÷ (Divide) tour dates in 2018.
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Coachella reveals history-making 2023 lineup
Bad Bunny, Blackpink and Frank Ocean have been confirmed as headliners for Coachella’s 2023 edition.
The Goldenvoice-promoted festival will run across two weekends (14–16 and 21–23 April) at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
Bad Bunny, the 125,000-cap event’s first Latin American and Spanish-language headliner, is booked by UTA and recently usurped Ed Sheeran as the highest-grossing touring artist in a calendar year. The Puerto Rican rapper generated $435,388,660 for 81 shows in 2022, according to Pollstar data.
Blackpink will become the festival’s first K-pop headliners, and Ocean, who was due to headline the cancelled 2020 event, are both represented by Wasserman Music.
General admission weekend tickets cost $499 to $599
Other artists on the bill include Calvin Harris, Gorillaz, Burna Boy, the Chemical Brothers, Blondie, Rosalia, Eric Prydz, The Kid Laroi, Charli XCX and Bjork. Kaytranada, Becky G, Jackson Wang, Pusha T, Yungblud, Alex G, Labrinth, Christine and the Queens, Rae Sremmurd, Boygenius, Suicideboys, Wet Leg, Metro Boomin, Underworld and Porter Robinson are also slated to perform.
General admission weekend tickets cost $499 to $599, with VIP tickets priced $1,069 to 1,269. Other VIP packages are also available priced up to $9,000.
“Very limited” weekend one passes remain, while a presale for weekend two starts on Friday (13 January).
Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd headlined last year’s festival, which was Coachella’s first in-person event since 2019,
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Ocesa director on what’s next for Latin America
Ocesa festival director Leizer Guss has spoken to IQ about the explosive growth of Latin music in 2022 and what’s next for the genre.
Recent news of Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny becoming the highest-grossing touring artist in a calendar year was the cherry on top of a year that has seen Latin stars break records across the board but as Guss points out, none of it happened overnight.
“I think it’s just the product of all the hard work all of the teams and artists have put in over the years,” he tells IQ. “It’s definitely not an overnight success, it’s just a matter of working effectively on the songs, live shows, albums and concepts and connecting with people.”
Though Bad Bunny has undoubtedly stolen the show in 2022, there are a number of Latin artists that are hot on his heels.
Karol G, Tiago PZK, Quevedo and Eladio Carrion are all contenders to be Latin America’s next superstar, according to the likes of Bruce Moran (Live Nation Latin America) and Phil Rodriguez (Move Concerts) and Guss has his own opinions.
“If I had to speculate I would say Rauw Alejandro. He has a unique energy, voice, vibe and an amazing team around him. We started working with him at Coca-Cola Flow Fest many years and are very excited and happy about the way he has grown as a live performer and artist.”
“I think there will at least be another wave of headliners that grow before the sound plateaus”
Coca-Cola Flow Fest takes place annually in Mexico City and is Ocesa’s flagship festival for the Latin urban sound. The last edition took place in November with headliners J Balvin, Anuel AA, Don Omar and Nicky Jam but it’s the artists slightly lower on the bill that Guss is excited about.
“Our Coca-Cola Flow Fest properties still have a very strong middle line and I think there will at least be another wave of headliners that grow before the sound plateaus,” he says.
“And I think the bonafide artists that come from the scene will keep pushing boundaries, exploring new sounds and recruiting new fans. I think it’s truly remarkable how most of the scene sticks together as if they truly understand that someone else’s success will pave the way for their own through collaborations and features.”
Alongside Coca-Cola Flow Fest, Ocesa’s festival portfolio includes Corona Capital, Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) Mexico, Live Latino, Imperial GNP and new festival The World Is A Vampire.
“Almost all of my festivals on sale are well and healthy… for now it looks like 2023 will be a good year,” says Guss. “The business grew in 2022 and I think 2023 will bring an opportunity to consolidate festival fans and try to convince them to mix their musical taste and try new things.”
As for the challenges that lie ahead, Guss says that Live Nation-owned Ocesa, which also owns Ticketmaster Mexico, is prepared for what’s in store.
“2022 was a record year because of the high amount of acts that hadn’t toured and the ‘thirst’ the fans had for gathering, celebrating and enjoying life,” he says. “As the industry levels again we will find where new consumption trends, the economy and the supply of touring artists leave us. We’re up to the challenge for sure.”
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Bad Bunny breaks Ed Sheeran tour record
Bad Bunny has usurped Ed Sheeran as the highest-grossing touring artist in a calendar year.
The Puerto Rican rapper generated $435,388,660 for 81 shows in 2022, according to Pollstar data, surpassing the $432.4 million box office takings of Sheeran’s 94 ÷ (Divide) tour dates in 2018.
Real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Bad Bunny sold 574,000 tickets for his El Último Tour del Mundo arena run from February to April, and 2,478,876 tickets for the World’s Hottest Tour, which hit stadiums in August and wrapped up with two nights at Azteca Stadium (cap. 87,523) in Mexico City this past weekend.
“I think we all feel very proud of what he’s accomplished,” Hans Schafer, Live Nation’s, SVP of global touring, tells Pollstar. “It’s a feat that is remarkable. It is huge for Latin music and unprecedented and a remarkable accomplishment on its own, regardless of genre to see an artist of his age reaching those heights is just something that makes it very promising for us, of what the future holds.”
Bad Bunny’s agent Jbeau Lewis of UTA adds that the artist and his manager Noah Assad of Rimas Entertainment deserve “all the credit in the world” for masterminding the success.
“What we saw from a numbers perspective was indicative of demand being off the charts”
“In April 2021, when we put El Último Tour del Mundo arena tour on sale, which ultimately started in February of ‘22, what we saw from a numbers perspective were indicative of demand being off the charts,” says Lewis.
“The plan to go on the arena tour, release the album a month after that tour ended and have a stadium tour that would start a couple of months after that was hatched 18 months ago at this point. We’ve just been working toward the execution of it.”
Ticketmaster has apologised, meanwhile, after an “unprecedented” number of fake tickets caused hundreds of fans with legitimate tickets to be denied entry to Friday’s (9 December) opening Mexico City show.
Elsewhere, Sheeran’s 255-show ÷ (Divide) run from 2017-19 remains the highest-grossing tour ever, with revenue of $776.2m. The British singer-songwriter sold more concert tickets this year than any other act, according to Billboard’s end-of-year box office scores, shifting over three million tickets for 63 concerts.
Harry Styles led the way last year as 2021’s top worldwide ticket seller, with the Rolling Stones claiming the highest-grossing tour.
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Bad Bunny tops 2022 mid-year tour rankings
Bad Bunny’s El Último Tour del Mundo is the biggest tour of 2022 so far according to Pollstar‘s mid-year rankings.
The Puerto Rican rapper sold 663,868 tickets in North America alone for a gross of $120.1 million (€118.1m), leaving Genesis’ The Last Domino trek, which generated $72m (€70.8m), a distant second ahead of Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road on $70m (€68.8m).
K-pop juggernauts BTS are fourth on the list, bringing in $69.3m, followed by Morgan Wallen in fifth with $58.3m. The top ten is completed by Eric Church, Eagles, John Mayer, Coldplay and Garth Brooks.
The figures cover the period from 18 November 2021 to 18 May 2022.
Revenue and ticket sales among the top 100 tours both dipped compared to 2019 levels
The report notes that revenue and ticket sales among the top 100 worldwide tours dipped 2.2% and 14.4%, respectively, compared to 2019 levels, although it is not a like-for-like comparison as not all venues were open to full capacity.
Worldwide gross was $3.5 billion (€3.4bn) from 46.8m ticket sales for 20,684 shows, down from 2019’s $5.1bn (€5bn) from 76.6m tickets for 35,903 shows.
Harry Styles led the way last year as 2021’s top worldwide ticket seller, while the Rolling Stones claimed the highest-grossing tour.
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Bad Bunny concert spurs Covid case ‘explosion’ in Puerto Rico
Bad Bunny’s two-day concert in Puerto Rico triggered an ‘explosion’ of Covid-19 cases on the island, according to The New York Times.
The sold-out P Fkn R show, promoted by Noah Assad Presents and Move Concerts, took place at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium on 10 and 11 December 2021 with 60,000 attendees – all of whom were required to show proof of full vaccination.
Reportedly, 2,000 attendees fell sick as a result of the concert, contributing to a 4,600% increase in cases on the island. Business events, company holiday parties and family gatherings also contributed.
Rafael Irizarry, a Harvard University statistician who keeps a dashboard of Puerto Rico Covid-19 data, tweeted that a third of all coronavirus cases the island has recorded since the start of the pandemic occurred in the past month.
A third of all coronavirus cases the island has recorded since the start of the pandemic occurred in the past month
The number of cases per 100,000 residents jumped to 225, from three, in three weeks. In December, the number of hospitalisations doubled — twice.
Puerto Rico previously had one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the United States. Nearly 85% of residents have had at least one vaccine dose and 75% of the population are fully vaccinated.
Following the increase in cases, officials have imposed tougher restrictions in a bid to stave off the new wave of cases.
As of 22 December 2021, those attending mass events (both indoors and outdoors) will be required to present proof of vaccination and also a negative Covid-19 test (either antigen or PCR performed by an authorised health provider) taken in the 48 hours prior to the event.
Get up to date with the latest live music restrictions affecting key international touring markets here.
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Move’s Bad Bunny stadium show sells out fast
Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated hometown shows at Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium sold out in less than 20 minutes, promoters Move Concerts and Noah Assad Presents have revealed.
The urban sensation’s P Fkn R show, rescheduled from May 2020, went on sale on Friday (20 August) and sold out soon after. The concerts, which take place at the 18,000-seat stadium on 10 and 11 December, will be Puerto Rico-born Bad Bunny’s first shows this year.
P Fkn R is the first announced show of a new partnership between Miami-based Move Concerts, which has an office in Puerto Rico, and Noah Assad, whose Rimas Music represents some of the world’s biggest reggaeton artists.
Everyone attending the P Fkn R show will be required to present proof of vaccination
Everyone attending the 10 and 11 December shows, which have a capacity of 35,000 each, will be required to present proof of full Covid-19 vaccination.
The Hiram Bithorn Stadium, the island’s largest, has previously hosted concerts by the likes Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Rihanna, Shakira, Sting and Whitney Houston, in addition to its regular use as a baseball park.
Multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy-winner Bad Bunny will follow up the show with a world tour, El Último Tour del Mundo 2022, which kicks off on 9 February 2022 at the Ball Arena (20,000-cap.) in Denver, Colorado.
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¡Olé! Industry experts on Latin music’s inexorable rise
Madison Square Garden, NYC’s legendary venue, has borne witness to just about everything over the years: debauchery, madness and all manner of weird and wonderful stage shows. But until J Balvin rocked up this September for an eagerly anticipated sold-out show, it had never played host to enormous, inflatable, pop-art sculptures, a squadron of puffy, bouncy mascots that looked like sentient clouds, or a singer riding across the stage on a huge yellow duck.
“¡Por la cultura!” (“for culture!”), he declared, before departing, raucous applause and calls for another encore ringing in his ears. It was yet another milestone in the reggaetonero’s meteoric rise to arenas and the top of the charts, and something of a dream for the Colombian star. But then Latin music – música urbana – is enjoying a surge in popularity all over the globe and giving birth to a new generation of superstars.
Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican rapper, sold out MSG back in April; Rosalía, the Spanish singer who combines flamenco with pop, has taken Europe by storm. “I believe we are experiencing the best time for Latin music ever,” says Dody Sirena, a founding partner of DC Set Group, one of Brazil’s biggest promoters.
“If you look at the 2019 RIAA mid-year report, you’ll see that Latin music is continuing to grow at a double-digit pace.”
Henry Cárdenas, CEO of the Cárdenas Marketing Network and the recently crowned Billboard Latin Power Player Executive of the Year for 2019, agrees. “Latin American music is the fastest-growing genre in the world, and it has a tremendous commercial force,” he says. “We have witnessed general market artists venturing into the Latin American market, which continues to expand and pique mass appeal.”
música urbana is enjoying a surge in popularity all over the globe and giving birth to a new generation of superstars
That’s an observation echoed by Nelson Albareda, CEO of Miami-based sports and entertainment operation Loud and Live: “Latin music has quickly become the fastest-growing genre in the global market,” he says. “As it pertains to Latin America, genres such as reggaeton, cumbia, bachata and merengue dominate in major markets including Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.”
That mass appeal means that the genre is “more popular globally than ever before,” according to booking agent Jeremy Norkin of United Talent Agency (UTA). UTA is home to both longstanding Latin music stars such as Pitbull and Sean Paul, and break-out artists like Lali, and Norkin notes that “Latin music has gained a strong presence among multi-genre events that previously haven’t featured the genre.
“For example, Spanish-speaking talent had a significantly larger footprint at 2019’s Lollapalooza festivals in South America.”
The absolute biggest artists remain those who came to prominence during the late-nineties ‘Latin explosion’ – household names who long ago crossed over to ubiquity (think Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Enrique Iglesias). But a new generation of musical talent is selling out arenas in Latin America and beyond while racking up staggering streaming numbers and video views; J Balvin and Bad Bunny are just the tip of the iceberg.
Ozuna, Maluma, Luis Fonsi, Becky G, Manuel Turizo and Sech are the most common names cited as representing the future.
A new generation of musical talent is selling out arenas while racking up staggering streaming numbers and video views
“They have tremendous talent,” says Cárdenas, of the latter three in particular, “and they are leading the way for a new generation of stars.”
“Ozuna, Lunay, and Rosalía” are Phil Rodríguez’s choice regarding those ready to ascend to the next level internationally. But Rodríguez, founder of Move Concerts, also notes that it can vary from country to country; in Puerto Rico, for example, trap and reggaeton stars top the charts, while in the USA it’s a more balanced mix of urban acts.
Albareda, whose company recently agreed a deal with Rodríguez’s promoting powerhouse Move Concerts, cites Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Pitbull, Maluma, Ozuna, Daddy Yankee, Romeo Santos, Karol G, Nicky Jam, Farruko, Becky G and Natti Natasha as some of the genre’s biggest stars.
Fernando Moya, of Buenos Aires-based Ozono Producciones cites Maluma, Sebastian Yatra and Tini as his picks, but states, “Paulo Londra, Duki, Wos, Louta and other trap artists are pushing and changing the music charts, having more listeners than pop, reggaeton and Latin music.”
While Latin music has always enjoyed a certain level of popularity – Bruno Del Granado, an agent at Creative Artists Agency, points to Julio Iglesias and Gloria Estefan’s Miami Sound Machine “blowing the door wide open globally” in the 70s and 80s – Cárdenas points to successes by “the Godfathers, Daddy Yankee and Nicky Jam” as opening the floodgates more recently.
“I believe we are experiencing the best time for Latin music ever”
Bad Bunny, too. “You could say he is a poster child for the movement,” says Cárdenas.
And then there’s ‘Despacito’ (which, ironically, translates to “slowly” in English). The song, released in January 2017, was a phenomenon; the official video now has over 6.4 billion views on YouTube, and over 2bn streams on Spotify. It was also the first track primarily sung in a language other than English to pass the billion mark, a game changer that signified a paradigm shift – no longer was an English-language version a necessity for artists looking for hits abroad.
‘Despacito’ also underscored a change in consumer and listening habits. In this brave new world, streams outrank sales and power a model where singles, or a constant flow of new material, matter way more than the narrative and commercial build-up around traditional album campaigns.
Much like in the world of rap and hip-hop, Latin music’s rise has mirrored that of technology and social media, platforms that today’s savvy stars know how to game to their advantage.
“YouTube is the platform of choice for consumers of Latin music,” argues Michel Vega, CEO and founder of Magnus Media, a global management and representative company. “If you look at the top 25 videos globally on any given week, a disproportionate amount will be Latin music.”
“Look at Nicky Jam or Bad Bunny – before, it would have taken an artist years to gain that kind of traction”
Moya believes that radio’s local language format historically held back Latin repertoire. “Digital platforms changed the market, as the audience started to choose what to listening and not just what the radio plays,” he says.
“Before, radio [stations] only played music in English and the native language of the country – they did not experiment with new varieties or styles of music or artists of different countries, regions or cultures. Now, there are no limits. On the contrary, consumers are able to reach random options based on their tastes and have the possibility to discover new types of music, new artist, whatever they want.”
Cárdenas agrees. “Streaming has changed the landscape of the industry for new artists, as these methods of distribution make for easier consumption for the listener. Look at Nicky Jam or Bad Bunny – before, it would have taken an artist years to gain that kind of traction.”
And, as Norkin notes, while word of mouth has always been key, “the difference is that today there are a wide variety of platforms that allow recommendations to be communicated instantaneously and on a massive scale.”
“They have more options than ever to become very popular as an independent”
Such a shift has also seen the new breed of stars ripping up the rulebook and essentially creating new norms as they go. Traditional routes to the top are not as relevant, and artists know their worth.
“Most of them are not interested in advances, 360 deals or traditional media,” says Sirena. “They have more options than ever to become very popular as an independent through distributors or with a major.”
Norkin notes that within this brave new world, some artists got their start – and continue to operate – as their own publishers, record labels and producers. “Many of them even own their own masters,” he says.
A DIY ethic is also strong. While bigger stars still tap into traditional record label systems, Del Granado believes that many new talents “are cognisant that we’re living in a DIY world and so need to do things themselves. From recording to shooting videos to handling social media, they have become masters of their domain.”
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